Alderson: Starting pitching is solid, but offense is still offensive

A time limit was given to Sandy Alderson, general manager of the New York Mets. Some said two years. Others said three. However, in the event that he faltered in any way, he was going to be on the outs with the fan base.

The fans decided they were not going to stand by and watch their team be ripped apart by cheap owners and a cheap GM. It just was not going to happen on their watch. They have been waiting since 2006 to make it back into the playoffs. Two collapses later and a moneyball philosophy that just did not seem to be working, the fans had enough.

So the protests began. Billboards being paid for to get the Wilsons to sell. A waste of money, I assure you. No man who has been named the Finance Committee Chairman for major league baseball is going to be outed from his own club. Say what you will, you are not going to get anywhere with that, but go ahead and feel free to waste your money.

Alderson came here specifically to get a ball club to the playoffs on a tight budget. It has yet to happen. There has been no playoff berth since 2006. Yes there has been moments when he has teased the fans into thinking there was a chance in hell. There were times when the team appeared to be on the right path before the All-Star break, but Alderson failed in his role. When a bat was needed to push the team ahead, he faltered and sat down. His response was no player was worth the arms in the farm system.

Agree or disagree all you want. I am among the few that do not believe in giving away a farm system that appears to be lucrative. Sure some have said they have arms aplenty. They could spare one or two prospects for a bat, right? Wrong! Pitchers are a hot commodity. They are also fragile creatures. They go down one, two, three. Teams have lost chances for the playoffs by a couple of games because their pitchers could not stay healthy down the stretch. The New York Mets have definitely lost pitchers over the years. The most devastating blow being Matt Harvey.

Are the fans in the right to be mad at a general manager who has yet to get a team into the playoffs? It all depends. What has he done to deserve any type of praise? Sure former general manager, Omar Minaya, had a hand in what is happening in Flushing now with Harvey and Jacob deGrom. There are others. I just figure I give you the names that have had a major impact with the fans. Say what you will about Minaya, he did right when it mattered, like the draft. These are not Alderson’s guys. They are Minaya’s. I’ll give you Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud for the current GM.

Not all of the pitchers above. There is a reason for that. Pitchers get old. Despite pitch counts, they get hurt. Their arms are only going to keep them going for so long. Pitchers are throwing harder and attempting to go deeper into a game. Nobody can fault them for that. However, it does put them more at risk for an injury. Would you risk having back-up plan after back-up plan? The Mets lost the 2000 World Series because a pitcher could not get the job done. Thank you, Armando Benitez. I almost broke my television set because of your lack of ability.

Here is the what I am trying to say. Do the Mets need a bat? Yes! There is no denying it. They need that one guy who can get the job done. You can say all you want that David Wright and Curtis Granderson are going to get the job done. They’ll have a turnaround season. Go ahead and believe that! I’m not putting all of my eggs in those baskets. The pitching looks solid. The offense looks shaky. Yet I am not willing to give up any arms for a bat. Arms are too much of a necessity. Too many are going down getting Tommy John surgery. It’s becoming the norm. Offense had to be taken care via free agency or in the minors. While names are being thrown around, none are just yet ready to come up. The top names invited to camp are Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini and Kevin Plawecki. These are the guys who are giving some fans hope for a much brighter offense.

Now the only question remaining is: How long do the fans have to wait?

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